Running Man: Episode 70

Get ready to jump from new heights with this week’s episode of Running Man. There are acts of courage, deceit, betrayal, heartbreak, and funny all stuffed in today’s Phone Race mission. Need a dose of laughter? Yes, let me fill out that prescription for you.

EPISODE 70. Broadcast on November 27, 2011.

We’re introduced to our first guest, of three, right off the bat: Sohn Ye-jin (Personal Taste). I’m impressed that Running Man has been enlisting more A-list celebrities as of late, but shouldn’t be surprised since the show is so popular. It occurs to me now that today’s guests are here to promote their new movie, Chilling Romance.

Ye-jin takes a call from Mr. PD who explains her mission – today, she’s the spy. It’s her job to find unknown partner-in-crime and the twist? Her partner doesn’t know that they are a spy… yet. She gives herself a little boost of confidence while her heart races at the challenge.

She then asks what we’ve all been wondering, “So why are we talking on the phone now?” and the camera pans back to Mr. PD sitting right across from her. He explains that it’s a Phone Race today so it’s fitting to talk to her this way. Naturally, he asks who she’d like to be spy buddies with and, “Kim Kwang-soo?” That’d be sweet if she didn’t mess up his name.

Our cast is together again at Kangnam Station and Mr. PD introduces today’s Phone Race mission. They’ll acquire hints for each mini-mission they succeed in, which they’ll need for the final mission. In addition, they’ll be broken up into four teams of (including our guests) one to four members.

Thus, it’s time for ring around the rosy to determine who gets singled out, and we’ve seen this before. Basically you have to create groups of whatever number Mr. PD yells out, for instance, 3. Not surprisingly, Suk-jin gets pushed out first, followed by Jae-suk and both mat-hyungs are furious for being thrown out of the group by Spartakooks.

Our Monday Couple sticks together, and Jong-kook forms the final team with Haha and Kwang-soo.

The guests are waiting at various stops along the subway line, and Suk-jin gets out first, wondering who might be waiting for him. The almost-silent train station speaks for itself and well, Big Nose Hyung, you’re on your own today.

His loneliness is in stark contrast to Jae-suk, whose jaw drops when he finds out he’s paired with Ye-jin. His isn’t the only one and the other boys are left flabbergasted and speechless by the pretty. When Ye-jin tells him that they need to win, he brushes it over, saying that winning isn’t as important as just having a good ol’ time playing some games together for the day. Oh, and he thanks Jong-kook. Or karma.

It’s definitely karma that’s kicking them in the train, the boys astounded at Jae-suk’s good fortune. But no worries for Gary who tells Ji-hyo that she’s still prettier. Awww.

I’m cringing at the next stop as the cast mistakes our next guest for MC Kim Jae-dong. But it’s really Park Cheol-min (Cyrano Agency). It doesn’t take much for the boys to identify our last guest, and I love the priceless shocked face of Lee Min-ki (Dal Ja’s Spring) when they call out his name while he’s still hiding. It reads: How did they know?

Today’s first mission is to pick up a ringing phone hidden in a locker within 30 seconds to receive their first clue. They run and the timer ticks down. One, two, three teams pick up the phone in time… and the final team squeeze in with one second to spare. They’re perplexed at the first hint, “F” and head out to the next location.

Jae-suk is quick to notice Ye-jin competitive nature, which I’m not surprised at, since he’s seen the same quality in other female guests. But before he can press the issue, he berates his VJ for only filming her. Hehehe.

The teams arrive at the next location at a park and the card reveals they have to retrieve the next hint that’s waiting for them on top of the bungee jump structure. Although scared at the possibility of jumping, Ye-jin’s determined to do it to win it. Go big or go home, right? Kwang-soo on the other hand, thinks that they won’t have to jump at all.

Tell that to scaredy-cat Suk-jin, who’s paralyzed with fear at the top about jumping after watching the guy bungee jump away with his clue.

Look at those hyungs’ faces of pure mischievous evil as they stare at Kwang-soo, the unfortunate one who will jump for their team. And to rub it in, Haha asks the VJs to choose too, and they all choose Kwangvatar. Can’t back out now buddy.

Time for some words of encouragement for pitiful Kwang-soo and Haha tells him that this will make him the Running Man hero he’s always dreamed about. He reluctantly steps to the landing, and the instructor coaches him the mantra, “I can do it” to Kwang-soo’s response, “I’d like to want to do it.” So they enlist the help of the crowd who shout his name.

Kwang-soo makes a silent decision and with a look of determination, he inches… and backs away. HAHAHA.

His hyungs count down – this is his final chance, and… he jumps. Kwang-soo I am SO proud of you right now. This moment is totally yours.

Meanwhile the Monday Couple and Cheol-min arrive at the landing, the latter with a deflated expression on his face. They play rock-paper-scissors to determine who will jump, and what do you know – it’s Cheol-min. He sees the guy jump off the landing, which fuels his anger at the RM staff.

But it’s so sweet how he jumps for his movie, for Running Man, and his daughter to get into college, then making a running start and bungee jumps. Think you just racked up some awesome Dad points there. And then he shouts, “I nearly DIED!” Hahaha, he cracks me up.

”

Whoops – looks like Ye-jin overheard the next hint (the letter “A”) and she innocently muses, “Does that mean I don’t have to jump?” Hello Mr. PD Panic Mode as Jae-suk notes that he saw their faces fall when they told them.

So they present a new proposition: if the both of them jump, they’ll give away a bigger hint. That’s nice… until Mr. PD spills that it’ll give away around 70 to 80% of the hint and PD Jr. smacks his hand in response. Heh.

They settle to jump together and Jae-suk’s repeated questions of worry towards Ye-jin make me wonder if they’re self-directed questions. They jump, and their ‘big clue’ is to let them know now only 2 teams will get the third hint, and Ye-jin sighs that it isn’t much of a great clue.

The third mission is a food mission and the teams are invited to eat as they please. They’re wary, but they eat, memorizing food items and the order it was presented. Neither method helps to answer the brunch questions and whether they passed (the hint as “C”) or not, move to their final destination.

The last clue revealed at the final destination, “E”, spells out the clue as “FACE” which currently stumps them. Furthermore now it’s every man or woman to themselves and Ye-jin feigns anxiety while Jae-suk proclaims to remember that they’re a team. Once he’s gone, she looks to the camera: “Team? What team…”

Ye-jin checks in with PD Jr. who delivers her final mission: to find her spy partner by linking arms with them and take out the other Running Man. The snag is that her partner will have an identifying clue of their own and neither knows what this signal is. Hm, this ought to be interesting.

She starts rounding out her initial suspects, starting with Gary. But he’s too truthful, and we’ve seen what being a spy can do to him. No response from Jong-kook either – so who can it be?

A few of them join together to brainstorm ideas about their ‘FACE’ clue and Jae-suk wonders if it has to do with one’s appearance, and looks at Cheol-min. Hehe. And Cheol-min basically tells him that he’s confident he’s better looking than Yoo Hyuk.

Ye-jin continues her search, linking arms with one person after the next but no one catches on which leaves her frustrated and her mind fills with questions. Did they not catch on? Aren’t they supposed to give a signal back?

Meanwhile, Haroro is busy giving a soliloquy to the camera about his love for Ye-jin, training his guns (with wimpy pink weights) to impress her. He even writes a little “I like you!” note to give to her with some chocolate. Aww, your player methods are just as childish as you are, Haroro. It’s sweet and endearing.

Jong-kook calls him out on his absence, suspicious that he could be the spy. Haha simply replies that Jong-kook’s about to get a new sister-in-law but hesitates when he finds out he’s number one on his future wife, Ye-jin’s, suspicion list. She appears before them that next moment and Haha takes the opportunity to hand over his love note and another surprise one – his cell phone number. The best part? Ye-jin; “I’ll prank-call him.”

Too bad Haha’s love remains unrequited, and one farewall photo of betrayal later, he’s eliminated. The icing on the cake is how Ye-jin shows the number to the others (Jae-suk confirms it’s real) and Cheol-min quips, “Then I’ll prank-call him.” HA!

Tensions run high after Jae-suk’s elimination and now you can’t trust anyone. Ye-Jin is hesitant about attacking the Ace, and so the boys show her how she can. And then she rips off Kwang-soo’s name tag. Oops.

The remaining members, both still in the mission and in jail, rack their brains to deduce who the spy is as well as how many. In jail, Kwang-soo points out that there are 2 chairs missing and Haha’s sure it’s the ladies: Ye-jin and Ji-hyo. And then another announcement: Min-ki is out (And we see the Ace and Spartakooks eliminate him with ease).

Ji-hyo and Jong-kook’s next target is Gary and they watch him from above, waiting for their moment. But soon there’s a ruckus from downstairs and all hell breaks loose. In its aftermath, both Gary and Cheol-min’s name tags are torn off.

After witnessing the havoc, Ji-hyo proposes they be honest with one another and both claim they’re not spies with a pinky-swear. They turn the corner, and Ye-jin slinks in, asking if they’re the spies. Ji-hyo gives chase down a few feet, and Jong-kook grabs Ji-hyo… wait,what?

Flashback to a few hours earlier back at the café and Jong-kook was told he’s the other spy by phone. His identifying clue was to touch the other person’s face with his finger. So he went around, just like Ye-jin, testing out each person, growing more frustrating after every attempt. He and Ye-jin had a few encounters, but neither considered the other as a spy until Haha’s elimination and finally they found each other.

One by one, they took everyone else down by persuasion or force, until we travel back to Ji-hyo. Her elimination comes swift, but ends in a fury, her eyes burning from betrayal. And somehow Suk-jin hyung is still alive, to which he wonders, “Wait, am I the spy today?” I think not.

Now it’s a matter of the ‘FACE’ clue and Ye-jin plays with the cell phone in her hand – what if it had something to do with phones? They speculate it alludes to an office extension, that the letters match the digits, but that doesn’t work. So Jong-kook tries a slightly different method (like F is the sixth letter of the alphabet). It works and they head upstairs to track the missing name tags.

Ye-jin skips out of the room, wondering if there isn’t a reversal and Jong-kook reaches to her back, “Why wouldn’t there be” and he apologizes when she screams in terror.

They place the tags in their rightful positions and the box rises, making the Spy Team the winners, and possibly effectively ruining the future relationship of the Ace and Spartakooks.

December 4, 2011 at 7:05 AM

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gummimochi, you should've mentioned with the pinkie-swear, Jong Kook also swears that he'll take Ji Hyo's family name if he take off her name tag.... Hehe... wonder why out of the blue, he put the family name on the line?

December 4, 2011 at 7:21 AM

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I seriously loved this ep! I loved how cunning and smart Sohn YeJin is. She feigned innocence and ignorance after tearing off Kwang-Soo's name-tag ("Can't I just put it back?" "I can't?? Oh no, what to do??") and showed how cunning she can be by running away from Ace and Jong-Kook so the latter has a chance to take out Ji-Hyo. I mean, Ji-Hyo will definitely run after her now that she has determined Ye-Jin as the spy.

I also loved how Jong-Kook immediately crouched down and dared not show his face to Ji-Hyo while apologising non-stop to her. It shows how bad he felt and how close they actually were. Else, he would not feel so bad abt betraying her trust.

I loved it when there's a smart guest and the battle of wits begin. Great ep! Sure hope they come to Singapore for a special ep. :)

December 6, 2011 at 3:03 AM

December 4, 2011 at 8:15 AM

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Thanks for another excellent recap!

This was a good episode - had to laugh at seeing how into it Ye-Jin was from the very beginning. Girl was out to WIN - no holds barred. It was really impressive to see that she was determined to jump off that tower. She didn't have to do it after over-hearing the clue, but was greedy for more. Jae Suk was just along for the ride - she didn't need him.

I'm really looking forward to the Dec. 11th RM - my favorite will be making another appearance - NICHKHUN!!!
:)

December 4, 2011 at 3:21 PM

December 4, 2011 at 4:43 PM

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Of course the episodes he was in was funny and such, I won't deny that, but I always find Yonghwa more endearing. Uh, sorry. I'm just not a Nichkhun fan I guess. But hey, one less fangirl to beat off with a stick right?

December 4, 2011 at 5:36 PM

I love Nichkhun on RM because he's one of the few (if only?) guys to take on Spartakook, physically, and WIN! Wrestled the dude to the ground and ripped the tag off on the Thailand show.

I really like Yong-hwa on RM because he's a smart player. On one show (can't remember specifically where - maybe the Museum show?) he pretty much single-handedly found all the Running Ball clues by himself. Impressive!

December 4, 2011 at 6:15 PM

December 4, 2011 at 6:50 PM

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Heh. I'm nothing if not diplomatic! :)

OMG - just saw more promos for the Hong Kong ep on the 11th - Jackie Chan is going to be giving the rules and descriptions for the race! The crowds there are unbelievable for the RM gang. The show is going to be formatted after the U.S. show "24" (Keifer Sutherland)!

December 4, 2011 at 7:03 PM

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Both Nichkhun and Yonghwa need to be on as a team. They'd be the perfect duo with the brains and the brawns to outmatch everyone plus they both are handsome. Yonghwa is super fast. Khun is fast too but I think he still kind of holding back because he doesn't want to offend or hurt anyone.

December 4, 2011 at 10:14 AM

December 4, 2011 at 1:07 PM

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The Ace and The Commander need to duke it out now in the next episode. And poor Kwangvatar! Always getting picked on. Haroro is just as childish (cute) as ever with Gary rounding it out with his Monday Couple ways. And the Grasshopper and Big Nose Hyung are useless as ever. Hahaha. Oh wow, counting the out like this reminds me of how small the cast has gotten over the year. Makes me miss Song Joong-ki and Lizzy. But it's ok, they'll always have a special place in our hearts.

December 4, 2011 at 3:07 PM

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I loved this episode! It reminded me of the first few episodes with the running bell. It was just thrilling an exciting! I hope they keep the format like this episode for a while! Can't wait for the Hong Kong one!

December 4, 2011 at 4:22 PM

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I like SYJ (from the few films of hers I've seen) but while pretty, she isn't as striking looking as other known beauties (such as KTH or SMA) - but after watching this ep of RM, have to say, SYJ has a real "winning" personality - which makes her that much more attractive.

February 26, 2012 at 2:45 PM

So okay, I know that I really late (maybe a little lame) but I just wanted to say this out aloud, to someone, even if no one hears me.

I love Yoo Jae Suk. I mean, my heart was always inclined towards him, but after that jump this fact has been etched onto my soul.

I love that he jumped despite being petrified of heights.

I love that despite the fact that Sohn Ye jin holds onto tightly around his waist due to the fear of the situation and thereby completely understandable, he doesn't take the opportunity to do the same but holds onto her harness with one hand and uses the other to film the jump.

As I said, I love him.

As they say DAEBAK!

I know you shouldn't wish for anything others have been given, but if I could have one exception then I would wish for this, to trade places with Ye jin, just for that moment. I know though, that I can't have it because that moment has passed, I cannot capture it, even if I could orchestrate it again. That moment, all its nuances is caught in that moment, a moment that has passed by us all. However I don't begrudge anyone anything because the fact that it exists is more than enough for me, it lights up my life and brings joy to my heart every time I think of it.

Thank you dramabeans for allowing me to bear witness to my own feelings.

April 11, 2015 at 4:16 PM

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i've finally gotten around to watching this one - and i wished i had earlier - a large reason has to do with Son Ye Jin's appeal - while not a spectacular beauty - she came across to me as more winning than most who aer spectacular beauties - i love her competitiveness and determination too

it's kinda bewildering that while Ye Jin overhead the letter clue at the bungy jump - the PDs didn't tell her that there's more (the next location) - the "extra" clue turned out to be unhelpful

during the name tag ripping portion - i kinda wonder how they kept the cast from ripping names at random - that way they'd get to the spy quickly - well - Ye Jin anyway - Jong Kook would be another matter - they must have been constrained by the producers